Sat May 24 05:00:35 UTC 2025: **News Article:**
**Delhi Court Rejects Army Officer’s Plea for Hotel CCTV Footage in Adultery Case, Cites Right to Privacy**
**New Delhi, India** – A Delhi court has upheld the right to privacy, rejecting a request by an Army Major to obtain CCTV footage from a hotel in an alleged extramarital affair case involving his wife and another officer. The court emphasized the privacy rights of hotel guests and the limitations of judicial intervention in private disputes.
Civil Judge Vaibhav Pratap Singh ruled that hotels must protect the confidentiality of their guests, including their data and booking details, from third parties. He stated that individuals have a right to privacy in hotel common areas against those not present and lacking legal entitlement to the information.
The court also raised concerns about the absence of the alleged couple from the lawsuit, noting they should be given an opportunity to defend their privacy rights. Releasing such private information without affording them this opportunity, the Judge stated, would violate their right to natural justice and fundamental right to privacy, potentially causing reputational harm.
Judge Singh further asserted that courts should not act as investigative bodies for private matters or be used to circumvent internal mechanisms. He advised the complainant to pursue remedies under the Army Act, 1950.
Citing Graham Greene’s novel “The End of the Affair,” the judge emphasized that fidelity rests with the one who made the promise, and not the alleged lover. He also referenced the Supreme Court’s 2018 Joseph Shine vs. Union of India verdict, which struck down the adultery law, rejecting the notion of a man ‘stealing’ the affections of another man’s wife and dehumanizing women. The court emphasized that modern India has no place for gender condescension and patriarchal notions and highlighted that Parliament has also done away with the adultery law while enacting the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
First Piper 